Girls Night Out
by Polkadotdotdot
Summary: The girls finally get their night out away from the ship and the boys...or so they think! A one-shot sequel to Greasy Silk.


_Tap tap tap tap. _That was the only sound that could be heard in the Galley as Jayne tapped his hand absently against the table. Book was reading quietly while Wash and Simon were playing cards. Mal was doing pretty much the same thing as Jayne, staring into space.

"What do think their doing now?" Wash said, not for the first time in an hour causing Mal to roll his eyes.

"For the last time Wash, we don't know...so stop askin'!" He snapped, breaking out of the little trance he was in, "And Jayne cut that out will ya? That tapping is driving me crazy"

Jayne looked sheepish and balled his hand away from the table. He was thinking the exact same thing as Wash only he didn't feel the need to say it out in the open every few minutes. She had looked damn cute when she left the boat and the thought of other men even just running their eyes over her petite, curvy body was driving him crazy. What she was wearing didn't exactly cover much, most of her thighs were on full display.

"Who'd have thought it huh? One night without the girls around and we're getting cabin fever!" Wash said, dropping his cards on the table.

Simon nodded. It felt strange not having River around to fuss over but he wasn't worrying any less. If anything he was worrying more.

"They did look radiant though" Book said, not exactly helping the other mens feelings, "And they looked happy. You all want them to be happy don't you?"

There was a murmer of reluctant agreement amoung the men that caused Book to laugh lightly at them. "It seems being attached has cause you all to become a little dependant it seems" He quipped.

The four men all turned to scowl at him. "The hell it has! I'm still as independant as I've always been!" Mal said at volume, standing up and puffying his chest and putting his hands on his hips.

Jayne nodded in agreement. "Yeah same here! I'm still the man I used t'be!" He said causing the men to laugh out loud. He frowned, "What? I am!"

Mal shook his head. "Oh, No you're not Jayne, Believe me!" Mal said, still laughing, "Before you ended up with Kaylee you were stubborn, argumentative, violent...am I leaving anything out?"

"Don't forget selfish" Simon chimed in.

Jayne grunted. "Yeah okay! I get it!" he said,

Mal's face softening. "But at least now you're stubborn, argumentative and violent for the right reasons" he said, "And you ain't selfish anymore"

Jayne smiled, happy in the knowledge that Mal's opinion of him had changed in the past year.

_Tap tap tap tap._

Suddenly Mal shot to his feet, a mixture of the tapping and boredom slowing driving him round the bend. "Come on! We're better than this! We should be able to survive one night without the girls around!" He exclaimed.

The other men all shared glances with each other, not really sure if that was true or not.

"Oh come on! A little bit of encouragement at least!" He sighed at the lack of enthusiasm the other men were showing.

Wash jumped out of his seat. "Wait! The girls said we couldn't join them right?" He said, watching the others nod in agreement, "But they didn't say we couldn't leave the ship!"

Jayne grinned and nodded. "Nothin' says we can't go get a quite drink on our own" He growled.

Mal stood up and shrugged. "AND if we _happen_ to be in the same place then that ain't our fault" he said innocently but with a devilish grin, an unspoken plan forming between them.

Simon looked pensive. "I don't know...what if they catch us?" He asked, looking between his three crewmates, all of whom were grinning like Cheshire cats.

"Ain't you worried about River? Don't ya wanna know that she's safe?" Wash asked, clapping the young Doctor on the back.

He nodded. "Well...yes I suppose..."

"Well then! It's settled, everyone gear up! We're going for a drink!" Mal anounced, his voice full of excitement.

Book smiled and shook his head. "I believe i'll decline" he said,"It'll be nice to have the ship to myself, get a little peace and quiet" Not that the other men could hear him, they were already out of the galley and getting their coats.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

There were all giggling as another jug of margaritas was put infront of them, the empty one being taken away. Kaylee grinned as she sipped the sharp citrus cocktail, her surroundings making her feel almost as giddy as the alcohol. The bright paper lanterns were bathing the four women in different shades of pink, purple and blue while the fountains that ran around the seats cut out of the rock and scattered with cushions completely had her enthrawlled.

"I'm tellin' you! We need to do this more often!" Zoe said as her laughing had died down to a light chuckle.

Inara nodded. "Oh deffinately, it's rare that we have a night to get away from the boys" She said, taking a sip of her drink, "Sweet as they are!"

Kaylee smiled with a dreamy look on her face. "Yeah...wonder what their doin' right now huh?" She said.

Zoe grinned. "Probably havin' the time of their lives, no women to nag them!" She said before chugging back her cocktail and pouring herself a refill. As their girly chatting continued, none of them noticed the four men slipping into the bar.

"Look there they are!" Wash exclaimed pointing to them causing the other three men to turn and scowl at him, shushing him as they did so.

"You wanna get us caught little man!" Jayne snapped, quickly turning to check if they had heard. Of course they hadn't, the 4 ladies were still blissfuly unaware that they were being watched by their significant others.

"Sorry...I'm excited! I don't get to take part in schemes!" He said with a shrug.

Mal turned to view the 'situation'. "Okay boys, there they are over in the corner. If we stick to the far right of the bar then they shouldn't see us" He said.

Simon frowned. "But...what if one of them comes up to the bar?" He asked.

They all looked at each other in silence for a moment before Mal shrugged. "Okay...so it's not a perfect plan" He said to them as they slid their way down the stairs, hugging the bar as they approached it.

Simon smiled as he gazed at his sister. She was laughing, leaning on Kaylee as the mechanic was in fits of giggles too. "Look at them, they all look so happy!" he said, shock evident in his voice.

Mal put a drink infront of him and turned his head to follow his gaze. "You sound surprised. You didn't think she was going to have fun?" He asked.

Simon shrugged. "It's not that...I guess I just didn't think she'd fit into this sort of socialising so quickly"

Jayne smirked. "But ya gotta admit, this is a hell of a lot more fun than those snooty balls ya were use t'goin to?" He said, clinking the small shot glass in his hand with Mal's and downing it. He had to admit, he agreed with Simon. All the girls had never looked happier and even though he wasn't there, if Kaylee was happy. He was happy. What was bothering him was that from where he was standing at the bar, he could see multiple empty jugs and shot glasses on the table. He knew perfectly well from past experience that Kaylee wasn't good at holding her drink. He'd carried her home on more than one occasion.

"Hey, you see that?" Mal growled in a low voice to Jayne who followed his line of vision. Sitting directly across from the girls table on the other side of the room was a group of four men, all of them smiling at them and making eyes in their direction.

"Yeah I see alright" Jayne grunted, slamming his third shot glass on the table. The two men were about to march forward but was stopped by Wash jumping infront of them, a hand on each chest.

"Come on! Stop, we need to trust them! They havn't even noticed, besides, do you really want them to be mad at us? You'd blow our cover!" He exclaimed.

The two larger men looked at each other and grudgingly turned back to the bar, down another shot each.

They were all fairly drunk by the time River noticed the table across from them and the men that were smiling in their direction. There was a particular boy that caught her eye. He looked about the same age as her with shaggy blonde hair and lightly tanned skin, he was smiling directly at her.

"Hey look there!" She giggled causing the other women to look over to the men, the guys smile's getting wider as their eyes all met.

Kaylee smiled at her. "Yeah, those guys are all pretty cute" She said, the other women nodding lightly in agreement.

River grinned. "Should we ask them over?" She said, looking enthusiastically from person to person.

Zoe shook her head. "No way, I'm married!"

Kaylee nodded in agreement. "So am I...to a man that could kill each of those boys with this pinkie.." She said trailing off, thinking of Jayne and what he might be doing back on Serenity.

"And I have Mal" Inara said.

River rolled her eyes. "I'm not saying we need to do anything with them...just have a friendly drink!" She said, her smile getting even wider when the waitress put down 4 brightly coloured drinks infront of them.

"From the gentlemen over there" the waitress said, pointing over to the men.

River looked sheepishly at the girls. "Besides...I only have a Simon...and thats not that fun!"

The women all looked at each other and Zoe let out a sigh. "Alright, I guess there ain't no harm in it...so long as they keep it friendly!" She stressed.

River shot to her feet and waved the men over, the ladies all moving to make room for them to sit.

"What is she doing?!" Simon exclaimed, watching River signal the men to their table, the Blonde man sitting himself next to her. The three Serenity men all looking on, confusion all over their faces, as their women invited a table of unknown men to join them drinking.

"That is a good question!" Wash said, his face a picture of confusion and anger.

Jayne was standing gritting his teeth, watching as a man in a cowboy hat sat himself down next to Kaylee. He was tall, but not nearly as well built as Jayne was. The mercenary smiled, Kaylee could crush the guy with her bare hands.

"So whats your name darlin'?" He asked, his arm leaning across the back of the chair. She sat with her legs crossed and her arms stretched out on the table, one hand playing with her drink.

"I'm Kaylee" She said lightly, the drink finally starting to go to her head. Looking around the table she also noticed that Zoe and Inara were in much the same position, making small talk with the men that had made a point of sitting next to them. River was the only one who seemed really interested in someone but thats because she didn't have anyone back on the ship waiting for her other than Simon.

"Thats a real pretty name, i'm Bobby" He said, "So, what brings ya to this neck of the 'verse?"

Kaylee sighed and took a drink. She remembered a time when she used to really be into small talk with good looking strangers. Now it just bored her to tears and she could see it did the same for Zoe. Inara seemed better at it but she supposed that was down to her Companion training. "I'm just here over night with my ship, i'm a mechanic" Kaylee said with a smile.

The man grinned at her. "Thats great. Me, i've never been real good with machines" the man said, slurring his words slightly, "I'm more of a...hands on person!"

Kaylee stared at him a moment, trying to decide if it was the drink that was making him dumb or if it was just him. Across the table she could see that the man that had been so interested in Zoe was now sitting not saying much since finding out that she was Married and she'd made it abundantly clear that she wasn't interested. Kaylee was snapped from her thoughts as she felt the mans hands on her bare knee.

"Zoe? bar?" She said, nodding in bars direction. Zoe nodded and stood up on shaky legs along with the small mechanic who strode away from the table towards the bar.

"Are they coming this way?" Wash asked suddenly, panic on his face. The four men put their glasses on the bar and watched as Zoe and Kaylee began to move towards them. Quickly they darted off to the side of the bar, around a small corner where their faces were hidden by some large blue paper fans. They watched as the two women leaned on the bar, Jayne smirking at Kaylee's long tanned legs as they stretched when she leaned forward.

"Havin' fun?" Zoe asked.

Kaylee sighed quietly, downing a shot the barman handed her. "Well...i'm dressed t'the nines in a fancy bar havin' drank way too many cocktails" She said with a grin that suddenly fell from her face, "And my husband ain't even here"

Zoe nodded. "I know the feelin' mei mei" She sighed, the two of them downing another shot.

"Remember when we used to find small talk cute?" She asked, Zoe giggling along with her while the men watched on and listened in to their conversation.

"Yeah, God i've never been so happy to have my husband right about now" She said, her smile beaming at the thought of the blonde pilot.

Kaylee smiled too, thinking of her own husband. There wasn't a thing about her man that she didn't like in some way, even when he was being stubborn as a mule he was still damn cute. Hell, most of the time he was being stubborn about something to do with her. Jayne frowned noticing that she suddenly looked sad.

"Zoe, I think I wanna go back to the ship..." She said, almost as if she was asking for permission, "I miss Jayne! This outfit is wasted on those boys!"

Zoe nodded. Boys was the correct way to put it.

As the two women were talking, neither of them noticed the boy that had been talking to Kaylee walk up behind the small mechanic and grab her behind. Jayne growled, ready to stride forward and if it wasn't for Wash and Mal holding him back he would have. He trusted his wife though, knowing fine well that she was in no way helpless but he was her husband. It was his place to protect her from anyone and anything that would even harm a hair on her head.

"Hey darlin' hows 'bout ya come back t'the table. We still got lots t'talk about" bobby slurred. Kaylee sneered at him while Zoe just looked amused at the drunk. Kaylee shook her head.

"Aw sugar, i'm real tired so why don't ya go pick out another girl who'll sit with ya" She muttered, waving a hand in objection.

Bobby scowled. "Hey! I've spent t'best part o'my night talkin' t'ya" He snapped, "I'm thinkin' ya owe me somethin'" As he finished talking his arm flew out, grabbing Kaylee around the wrist in a tight grip.

The pressure from his hold was all the warning Kaylee needed to know that the boy wasn't being friendly anymore and in an instant he found himself with a very sore face and lying on his back with her boot standing on his throat. "I've tried to be nice sweetie, but ya just had to push your luck" she sniggered, Zoe standing next to her trying her best not to laugh. Kaylee bent down and held up the hand with her wedding ring and engagement ring on it, the two glittering in the light.

"You should just count you're blessin's that my man isn't here...then a boot in the throat would be the least of you're worries...now GIT!" She shouted, lifting her foot and watching the boy crawl away.

"I think we should leave now" Zoe said, "Inara is giving us the not so subtle signal that she wants to leave" She said, nodding over to where Inara sat, her hands waving at the other two women and a frown on her face. The two women were so wrapped up in giggling at the Companion and thinking about how they were going to get River away from the blonde man that they didn't notice the four men sneek out of the bar, paper fans covering their faces.

FFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFFF

The men had only managed to arrive back at the ship ten minutes before the women stumbled in. The walk in the fresh air had done nothing to sober the women up and Kaylee was still high from her conquest earlier. It hadn't been easy to pull River away from the Blonde boy and now the whole ship was hearing about the fuss. The men had managed to place themselves around the ship, acting like they had been there the whole night. Kaylee had stuggered to her bunk, Jayne having to help her change into her fitted short shorts and tshirt and putting her to bed. Wash had to do much the same for Zoe while poor Simon had to put up with River's drunken ranting about how she was horribly torn away from the blonde haired boy.

"So I see the girls have yet to join us then?" Book asked while he sat himself down at the breakfast table.

Mal smiled and nodded. "Yup, I think all of them were a little under the influence. I didn't even bother waking Inara"

Jayne agreed with him and was about to comment but he was interupted by Kaylee and River both shuffling into the room. Both of them had managed to change into day to day wear but their faces both showed the classic signs of a hangover.

"Mornin' darlin', how ya feelin'?" Jayne asked from him place at the table, watching as she shuffled over to make herself some tea and then sit down next to him, putting her head on his shoulder.

"I don't feel well..." She muttered, her voice muffled by Jayne's shoulder. He smiled and placed a kiss on her head before going back to his coffee. Slowly the other women also staggered in towards breakfast, each of them with their own hangover symptoms.

"So it sounds like you girls had fun then?" Wash quipped. They just nodded, none of them having the energy to reply but Wash continued his cheery comments. "And Kaylee! Man, I don't think I've ever see ya tag a guy so hard..."

Suddenly the table went silent, the girls forgot their hangovers and were staring at Wash.

"How'd you know about that dear?" Zoe asked, her voice confused and a little hard.

Wash dropped his fork in a panic, looking around the table for back up. "Well...I mean...Uh JAYNE! Jayne told me of course" He stuttered.

Jayne sighed and stared at his plate, knowing what was coming next.

"But...I didn't tell Jayne...I fell asleep soon as I got in" She said, staring at Wash who looked like a little boy lost, "So how'd ya know?"

It was no use, he thought. There was no way out so he may as well have just come clean. He saw the looks the other men were giving him, sharp shaking of the heads and burning stares. "Okay...well last night we were.."

"Wash shut up!"

"feelin' a little bored...we just wanted to know what you guys were up to..."

"WASH!"

"so we..."

"SHUT UP WASH!"

"Kinda spied on you..."

There was a thick silence around the table, the men all hanging their heads to avoid the hard glares of the Serenity women. Kaylee's mouth was hanging open in shock, Zoe looked irate, Inara slammed her cup down on the table with a scowl while River looked like she might cry at any moment.

"Y..Ya'll were there?" Kaylee asked quietly, her head turning to Jayne who still had his own gaze down on his plate. When he didn't answer straight away she nudged him hard and he nodded.

"Yeah we were..." he muttered quietly, slowly moving his eyes up to meet his wifes. He was thankful that she didn't look as angry as Zoe or Inara and she wasn't crying like River was.

She was sobbing and shrugging off all of Simon's attempts to speak to her, moaning about how he just can't trust her and how he needed to let her grow up.

"What in the hell were you thinking?!" Zoe suddenly exploaded, both her hands slamming down on the breakfast table. Wash had only just opened his mouth to try to explain before Zoe cut him off again, "No! Don't even bother tryin' to explain! I'm too mad..." She pushed herself away from the table and stood up, stomping out of the room. A few seconds later the door to her bunk could be heard locking. Inara didn't say anything as she put her arm around River and escorted the crying girl from the room.

Kaylee was the only woman still at the table and with one last shake of her head she stood up, looking down at Jayne who gave her a pensive smile. "So...did ya see me jack that guy?" She asked.

He grinned at her. "Damn straight, I'm real proud o'ya girl" he said, relieved when a shy smile broke out on her face.

"Well...next time feel free t'step in" He sighed in relief when she bent down and kissed him before leaving the room with slightly more bounce in her step than when she came in. He didn't bother looking at the other men but he could feel each of them growling at him. All of them appart from Book that is, who was sitting trying to not giggle into his coffee.

"What? That aint fair!" Mal shouted at the mercenary.

Wash nodded in agreement. "Yeah! How you didn't get the cold treatment?!" He moaned.

Jayne just shrugged and grinned. "Guess i'm jus' lucky..."

_End_


End file.
